Seas and suns

The increasingly constant shuddering of the hull of the ship had terrified its occupants into silence. The fear in the air was as thick as the water Siren and the others believed would begin rushing in at any second. However, the seconds ticked into minuets and the only thing flowing into the cells below deck were the shouts of those above deck. As a child Siren had heard the storied of gangs of villains that sailed the seas below, looking for the next easy meal. She had thought they had some sort of code of comradery, that a slave vessel would have safe passage.

It was then that Siren heard the loud creaking of the double doors that led to main deck. She recognized the sound and smell of salty air from the few times the crew had bothered to feed them. Siren stayed low and tense in her kneeling position, unable to ignore the bad feeling in her gut. She heard the sound of boots on the wood, the creaks of the cell doors opening, surprised shouts from some of the girls and the clank of their chains. Siren could only wait as the noises crept closer and closer to her cell. Finally, it was her turn, Siren didn't know what to expect as the heavy door slid open, but it certainly wasn't the hardened faces of fully clad soldiers. The two soldiers that walked in consumed almost all of the space in her cell, the constriction suddenly made it hard for Siren to breath as she stared at them with wide eyes. They had darker toned skin and sandy brown hair; leather clad with shiny silver breastplates. Both men had highly intricate lions welded into the breastplates but one of them had gold leafing on his lion and darker brown eyes. His eyes seemed to hesitate on hers for a second too long, and Siren could only imagine how pitiful she must look.

The darker eyed man leaned down and she saw the keys in his hand, he quickly unlocked her shackles from the ground and left, presumably moving to the next cell. The other soldier grabbed her arm roughly pulling her to her feet. She stumbled at first, she had been chained to the ground for days, but the soldier supported her with a viselike grip. He had a very lean build, but Siren hadn't eaten properly in years, her tiny frame was barely an inconvenience to him. As he pushed her into the corridor, Siren got her first view of what was going on. The soldiers seemed to be pulling the girls out, chaining them in pairs and dragging them up to the main deck. The soldier grabbed the girl walking out of the cell across from Sirens, linking their shackles and beginning to pull then towards the stairs. Siren looked at the girl walking alongside her, dirty and bloody like Siren, but she could still see the beauty in her features. The girl had dirty black hair, dull but thick, and black eyes that burned. Her skin was pale and dirty, her collar bones sharply poked out, and she had a prominent black eye. She had clearly not been lucky, but she had a flame inside her that Siren admired.

As they walked through the doorway and headed up the stairs the girl looked over, catching Sirens eye, "Kahsel" she whispered.

"Siren"

"Can you swim?" Kahsel looked intently at her.

"Yes" Siren answered slightly hesitantly. She had an idea what Kahsel was asking and the shackles made her think it was a bad idea.

"First chance we get" Kahsel said looking ahead. Siren was about to protest but the trio was reaching the top of the stairs and Siren started to catch her first view of sunlight since the farm she was kept on before. Stepping out onto the main deck the sun was much harsher than she remembered, reflecting from every direction. Siren squeezed her eyes shut and looked down at her bare feet. She couldn't see any of the thieves that captained the ship before, but the blood on the deck didn't leave many questions. They followed their soldier until he dragged them to a position to attach their shackles in a long line of other girls and left.

As the other girls were brought up and shackled, they sat and started to form rows. Sirens eyes finally adjusted enough to look around in the midday sun. Still squinting she realized most of the sun was reflecting off the hundreds of soldier's breastplates, her view of the water was obstructed by another huge ship, anchored next to the one they were on. The other ship looked far more official, military she guessed. She could see the full crest on the flags, but she could not tell which Capitol Land these people represented. She considered the soldiers appearances, tan skin with the lion on the armor made her think Terris but the flag was so different from what she remembered. The shine from their armor made it hard for Siren to look to closely at any of the men too.

Kahsel's eyes met hers again, looking more bleak, "Thyrus" she mouthed. Sirens brow furrowed Thyrus was another capitol land, one known not to be on good terms with Terris.

"Not Terris?" Siren mouthed back.

Kahsel shook her head, "Thyrus forced Terris into a treaty a few years back." Siren felt a pang of guilt as Kahsel suddenly averted her eyes and shrugged. She could only imagine whose bed Kahsel had to be in to know that. Sirens attention was brought back to the present as all at once the soldiers lining the ship seemed to turn towards the front bow and raised their fists to their foreheads. The girls all turned following their gaze to a pair of men elevated slightly on a few crates. Siren couldn't see them very well from the middle of the lineup of women, a few rows back. She could tell that the taller one had slightly darker skin than the others and much darker hair. He also wore an entirely gold chest plate. The man slightly behind him looked like the man that carried the keys earlier.

The front man cleared his throat, looking at the group of girls, and began, "I am Admiral Cain of the imperial Thyrusian army." There was some clanking of chains as the girls murmured looking nervously around. "You need not fear us; we have captured this vessel with the intent to help all of you" Siren felt Kahsel pull on their shackles, "At the next port you can rejoice in your freedom and remember the generosity of Thyrus with each step you take." Kahsel snorted and mumbled under her breath. "We will be porting in Adin, a small port of Terris in three days' time. Until then, each of you will be fed and cared for to the best of our resources. You will all remain in your personal quarters at all times and rest with the peace of mind our protection will bring you!" Cain finished his grand speech and nodded to the solders who began to step forward to bring us all back to our cells.

Kahsel was still shaking her head, "Bull, and this is why I hate Thyrusians. He's lying, they aren't here to help us." Before Siren had the chance to ask what the girl meant, Kahsel stood up suddenly and shouted, "What do you mean 'intent to help us all'?" She scoffed. Siren froze as suddenly everything was deathly silent and all eyes were on the girl brazenly standing next to her.

Cain Stared at kahsel, "We freed you, I would consider that great help." He stated coldly.

Kahsel stared back and just as coldly she spoke, "Maybe you will remove these shackles, and maybe you will feed us tonight, but in three days' time you and you men are going to bring us to shore and dump us in some tiny port in Terris. What of us then? We have no money, no place to go, most of us have been enslaved for years, no family and no skills. I am from the land of Aquinas. What do you think happens to us after you dump us at port in Terris?" Kahsel was on fire, not an ounce of doubt wavered in her voice and her truths resonated in Siren. "You may have saved us today but in three days' time you are condemning us to certain death once again." Kahsel sneered at him, "Hypocrite! Why would we be thankful?"

Kahsel finished speaking and looked around, most of the girls were still absorbing what she had said, the rest stared wide eyed at Cain.

Cain smiled unpleasantly, "Bring the girl up here, I shall personally attest that she will not die in three days' time at port!" Kahsel narrowed her eyes and three solders rushed forward, unchaining the two girls from the deck and dragging both Kahsel and Siren to the crates. Siren tried to look around with wide panicked eyes but held in place by the much bigger soldier, there was not much she could do. Kahsel on the other hand stayed completely calm, almost arrogant, as Cain and the other man descended the crates to meet them in front of the first row of women.